Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items

FSDoE praises inclusive education on UFS South Campus

15 July 2019 | Story Eugene Seegers | Photo Eugene Seegers

Chris Grobler, Eunice Qwelane, Bob Tladi, and Elmien Retief on the UFS South Campus during the Monyetla Bursary Project’s Winter School.

Three members of the Free State Department of Education (FSDoE) recently visited the UFS South Campus to see an example of inclusive education at work: The Monyetla Bursary Project’s sixth Winter School. Monyetla means ‘opportunity’ in Sesotho. We spoke to Bob Tladi (Chief Director: Education Development and Support, FSDoE), Eunice Qwelane (Director: Inclusive and Special-Needs Education, FSDoE), Elmien Retief (Acting CES, Inclusive and Special-Needs Education, FSDoE), and Chris Grobler (Director: Monyetla Bursary Project) to find out why this year’s programme was of special interest to the province’s Department of Education.

According to Eunice Qwelane, the special area of interest for her department was the hard-of-hearing and deaf Grade 12 learners from Bartimea School in Thaba Nchu. She says the Winter School is “an opportunity for these disabled learners to be integrated into the broader school community. For them, it is also a step of progressive development towards their future, as well as preparation for tertiary education.” She adds that it is also an opportunity for them to receive excellent tuition. “Monyetla’s Winter School at the UFS South Campus ensures that subjects are taught by the best possible educators.”

Chris Grobler mentions that additional opportunities were created for these learners to interact with hearing learners. During their time off at the cafeteria or during breaks, they can play games and get to know one another. Hearing learners were also taught basic greetings in South African Sign Language (SASL) and were encouraged to interact with deaf students as much as possible.

He adds: “There is a need for administrators to develop and widen their thinking. Schools that attend the Winter School are from all over the province, not only Motheo District in the Free State. Even more than that, learners visit from all over the country — from the North-West, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern, Western and Northern Cape — because we have built a reputation here. As the University of the Free State, we are doing good towards ALL. It is a compliment for the Free State Department of Education and the university.”

Eunice Qwelane concludes: “We really appreciate what the UFS is doing, because within the department we do not have winter camps that cater for visually or hearing-impaired learners. The university, in collaboration with the Monyetla Bursary Project, is solving an existing problem and bridging a gap in the system. It is an inspiration for these learners, because they can move away from isolation. This is inclusivity at its best and inclusivity in action that the UFS is bringing to us as a department, and we really appreciate that.”

Other services rendered at Winter School

1) Help learners apply to UFS (feeder programme of matrics for UFS in collaboration with Schools Partnership Project at South Campus)
2) NBT application assistance
3) Funding opportunities, application assistance
4) Job shadowing / internships, partnerships with companies and sponsors
5) South African Sign Language (SASL) interpreting at Computer Lab
6) Simoné Hendricks: SASL Specialist interprets SASL in Maths and Accounting
7) D6 School Communicator — download teaching resources used during Winter School

Winter and Saturday Schools: Facts

2007: Saturday School started with 300 learners and five subjects
2019: This has grown to 1 500 learners and 15 subjects in 2019
2008-2011: Gr 12 learners express a need for further opportunities to improve their skills in key subjects such as Maths, English, Science, and Computer Literacy
2012: Winter School is started by Monyetla Bursary Project, with the aim of linking corporate sponsors with deserving underprivileged learners
2019: Winter School has now grown to be a multi-province drawcard to the UFS South Campus

News Archive

Ensure your place at the UFS

2010-10-27

The University of the Free State (UFS) appeals to all prospective South African students who want to come and study at the UFS in 2011 to submit their applications no later than Tuesday, 30 November 2010.

The UFS is aware of the fact that learners will not have received their final Grade 12 results by Tuesday, 30 November 2010; therefore provisional admission will be granted based on learners’ most recent Grade 12 results. Final admission will take place upon receipt of the final Grade 12 results, which will be available early in January 2011.

Prospective students can obtain application forms for admission at the following places:

The UFS’s web site at www.ufs.ac.za,
The Information Office (Unit for Prospective Students) at the Thakaneng Bridge on the UFS’s Main Campus in Bloemfontein,
You may also send an e-mail to info@ufs.ac.za or
Phone 051 401 3000 and the necessary forms will be posted to you.

Senior undergraduate students (that is all students who were registered up to and during 2010 at the UFS) as well as post-graduate students, must self-register electronically on-line from Monday, 1 November 2010 until Tuesday, 4 January 2011. This includes master’s and doctoral students.

In order to encourage senior students to register online, the UFS offers 20 laptops as incentives for the senior students who successfully register online from 1 November 2010. These laptops will be handed over to the winners after the registration process in 2011.

Registration of first-year students:

The Rector and Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Jonathan Jansen, will welcome first-year students on Friday, 14 January and Saturday, 15 January 2011, respectively, in the Callie Human Centre. The Faculties of Economic and Management Sciences, the Humanities and Education will be welcomed on 14 January 2011 and the students of the Faculties of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, Law and Theology shall be welcomed on 15 January 2011. The compulsory orientation programme for new first-years will also then commence.

From 17 to 21 January 2011 first-year students will receive academic advice at the Callie Human Centre, whereafter they will be referred for self-registration. These processes will take place according to the set timetable. This timetable is available in the Kovsie Guide that will be sent to learners as soon as we have received their applications, as well as on the web site of the UFS at www.ufs.ac.za/register2011.

First-year students’ fees must be paid prior to arrival on 14 and 15 January 2011.

Registration of senior students:

Senior students who experience problems with the electronic on-line self-registration process have the opportunity to resolve problems within a programme on campus from Wednesday, 5 January until Wednesday, 12 January 2011. This programme will be sent out to students and is also available at www.ufs.ac.za/register2011. The specific scheduled day for senior students to resolve problems is the last and only day to resolve the problem.

Senior students can also contact 051 401 9111 for more information in this regard.

Students may register for prescribed modules for 2011, even though the November 2010 examination results are not yet available. Changes resulting from examination results that are made available later can be done up to and including 28 January 2011.

In terms of applications for senior students, only students who have interrupted a calendar year of study need to re-apply for admission.

Registration of students at the UFS’s Qwaqwa Campus:

Senior and first-year students of the UFS’s Qwaqwa Campus register from Wednesday, 12 January until Friday, 28 January 2011 in the Nelson Mandela Hall on this campus.

Registration of students at the UFS South Campus:

First-year students from the UFS’s South Campus in the University Preparation Programme and the Extended Programme (only Natural and Agricultural Sciences) register from Monday, 24 January till Friday, 28 January 2011 in the Arena Hall on the South Campus.

Students who have successfully completed the University Preparation Programme register with the first-year students on the UFS Main Campus on Friday, 14 and Saturday, 15 January 2011 – according to faculties (cf. paragraph 6).

Lectures for all students shall commence on Monday, 24 January 2011.

MEDIA RELEASE
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Director: Strategic Communication (actg)
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl@ufs.ac.za
26 October 2010

Back

Economic and Management Sciences

Education

Health Sciences

The Humanities

Law

Natural and Agricultural Sciences

Theology and Religion

Open Distance Learning

Business School

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept